Thursday, June 23, 2011

Easy Peasy Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

But before I share my Ranch dressing recipe, I have to share a silly discovery I recently made: I make two grocery lists. One is for items we're either low on or out of which need to be purchased, and the other is for items that need to be made.

In the grand scheme of things, that's not such an important discovery. However, my discovery did get me to thinking that I do make quite a few of my family's grocery items (such as today's recipe and homemade ketchup) from ingredients already in our pantry rather than buying them. Oddly, I had never thought of my items that need to be made list as anything other than another to-do list.

Along with my discovery came the inspiration to begin a new series here on the blog called Homemade Pantry. What you won't find here is a cost analysis for every recipe. While I know that some folks like breaking down the cost for homemade items, knowing exactly how much or how little I save isn't that important to me. What you will find here, Lord willing, is encouragement to try making your own. Experiment a little (or a lot) and find recipes that your family enjoys!

But why make your own? Filling your pantry with your very own homemade groceries will not only save you money, but it's better for you! No MSG, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients. Making your own is fun, satisfying, frugal, and healthier. :)

And now for today's recipe...

Years ago while flipping through the pages of my trusty copy of Betty Crocker's Cookbook, I stumbled upon a recipe for Buttermilk Dressing and have been making my own slightly modified version ever since. Enjoy!

Measure all ingredients into a bowl or quart-sized jar, give it a good stir, then cover and chill for two hours. Super easy.

To make the mayo measuring easier, pour the buttermilk into a 4 cup measuring cup then add the mayo until you're almost up to the 3 cup mark. To finish, add the seasonings, stir, cover, and chill. Easier yet. :)

This dressing is good for about two weeks, but can easily be halved if you don't need quite so much (the original B.C. recipe is actually half of what I make). Making your own dressing will not only save you a little money, it will also help you avoid the MSG and high fructose corn syrup found in many bottled dressings or powdered dressing packets.

Theresa - You'll have to let me know how you like it if you give my Ranch a try. Thanks for stopping by!

Chels - You're welcome. :)

Mary - I've substituted yogurt for the mayo before and liked it. I would actually make it with yogurt all the time (or substitute half the mayo for yogurt) if only my family would eat it that way. They don't like it when I mess with the Ranch... :)

I love the idea of the Homemade Pantry series. What a fantastic idea! Your buttermilk ranch dressing sounds lovely, and so much better for you than store bought. Thank you for sharing this post with The Weekend Roundup. Hope to see you there again this week!

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to comment! Hope you enjoy the Ranch dressing. :) Sarahbeth, you're my 100th follower -- how excited! I guess I should do a giveaway or something...maybe next week after the 4th of July holiday.

Christina - Hain makes a safflower oil mayonnaise that works well with this dressing. I've been playing with homemade mayo recipes, but haven't been successful in finding one my family enjoys. Regular mayo will work fine, but they all tend to be made with canola oil which we try to avoid. Blessings, ~Lisa

Hi Amanda - My apologies for the delay in posting your comment. Your question is a good one! I must admit, however, that while we do our best to avoid using canola oil, we have not been successful in completely eliminating it from our diet as it's a hard oil to avoid.

The "why" began several years ago when our family was facing several serious health issues including high cholesterol, inflammation, and our (now 13 year old) son was seriously afflicted with severe asthma and allergies.

Providentially, I was introduced to "Nourishing Traditions" -- a cookbook advocating a return to traditional cooking methods. In this encyclopedic volume I was introduced, among other ideas, to the use of traditional fats and oils and the health benefits of doing so. Believing that making some dietary changes might work to improve our health, we began our real foods journey.

Basically, canola oil is a non-traditional fat that, while rich in healthy omega-3 (10-15%), is even higher in omega-6 (23%) -- an unhealthy balance of the two fats -- which contributes to inflammation and a host of other health issues (you can read more in the article I link to below). The idea is to increase the omega 3 in our diet while decreasing the omega 6; to bring them more into balance.

Increasing our omega 3 intake has been highly effective in improving our health (especially our sons!). I'm working on a post that will, Lord willing, be published sometime soon telling the whole story, but in the meanwhile, I commend to you any of the "real food" links on my side bar and especially the following article from Prevention magazine which details the effects of the overabundance of omega 6 in the typical American diet.

Hope this response wasn't overkill. :) Thanks for asking; it caused me to think through even more the "why" myself. Thanks!